Dec. 2, 2007 — The weekend's high wind and rain took a slight break Sunday afternoon, giving a small group of St. Thomas residents the opportunity to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the St. Thomas Swimming Association's aquatic center with a little bit of sunshine
The event also marked the association's 20-year anniversary.
Though the afternoon's program was short, it featured a variety of guest speakers and was capped with swimming demonstrations that highlighted what the center's students are learning throughout the year — including how to tread water and do the back and breast strokes. Additionally, the event celebrated the near completion of one of the center's highly anticipated pilot programs: a swim class for students at the Ivanna Eudora Kean and Charlotte Amalie high schools.
The students take classes five days a week in exchange for school credit, according to Graig Fischer, the center's aquatics director. For three of those days, the students are in the pool, perfecting their technique. On Tuesday and Thursday they are in the classroom, learning how to administer CPR and first aid. Students from the nearby Montessori School join in one day during the week, Fischer said.
The classroom sessions also teach students about exploring job opportunities in the marine industry, said swimming instructor Traci Blankenship.
"The way I see it, the water can either be an opportunity or a limitation," she said. "It's a limitation if you don't know how to swim, but it's an opportunity, because once you do, there's no end to the kind of jobs and programs you can find in the marine industry — from working on boats to scuba diving. And that's one of the many things we hope to teach the students who take part in our programs."
Speaking during the program, Fischer called the aquatic center one of the island's "best-kept secrets." It is located in Estate Nazareth.
"One of the things we want people to know is that we are open to the public and provide a variety of services and programs," he said. "Because we live on an island surrounded by water, we want to get everyone acclimated to this environment as much as possible. We have increased our visibility over the past few months, though, and hope to one day be in a position to give back to the community all that's been given to us — and I think we're going to heading in that direction really soon."
Other speakers during the event pledged their continued support for the center, including Sen. Liston Davis and Buddy Kennings, representing the Department of Housing, Parks and Recreation. Community Foundation President Dee Baecher-Brown also spoke positively about the center's growth over the past year, calling it a "good example of what a community can do when it pulls together."
Speaking after the ceremony, Baecher-Brown said CFVI helped to finance the construction of the pool, providing "significant gifts" from six of the foundation's funds.
"A number of our donors have spent time working with the pool, identifying resources — it's really been a collaborative effort," she said. "And I know that they are committed to working with the association in continued support of the center and its programs."
The aquatic center provides a variety of programs that cater to residents ranging from age two to 50, Fischer and Blankenship said. In addition to parent-and-child classes, residents can also sign up for water aerobics classes or simply turn up during the week to spend some of their free time in the water. The center is also the home of the island's swim team, which will host a meet Jan. 29.
"It's definitely a great place to be," Blankenship said. "So right now our goal is to get more people to come out, have some fun and take part in the classes."
Open pool hours are from 7 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday.
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